“Starring the stand out talents of Amy Huberman and Neil Morrissey comes a gripping new legal drama Striking Out.

Following its run on new channel 5Select, Striking OutSeries One and Two are set to arrive on DVD both separately and as Striking Out One and Two Box Set, thanks to Acorn Media International.Tara Rafferty (Amy Huberman – Cold Feet) is a high-flying solicitor at a prestigious Dublin law firm, but when she discovers her fiancé and fellow solicitor Eric (Rory Keenan – War and Peace), has been cheating on her with a colleague, she decides to make some big life changes. Dumping her unfaithful partner, she quits her job and sets up on her own practice in a makeshift office, at the back of a café.

With the help of her friends and associates, including her streetwise ex-client turned assistant Ray (Emmet Byrne – Red Rock), private detective Meg Riley (Fiona O’Shaughnessy – Utopia), and friend and mentor Senior Counsel Vincent Pike (Neil Morrissey – Line of Duty), Tara becomes a force to be reckoned with. Soon she is taking on high profile cases, some of which pit Tara against her former colleagues and major legal establishment players. Can she ever truly escape her past and make it on her own?”

Star rating: *****

The stand-out features of the first series, which aired on Channel Five, was how quickly the scene was set from the off and each character felt relatable, believable and drew me into their back-story. Whether they were a central role or an ‘incidental’ part of the plot, the writing on this series has to be one of the biggest strengths the series has to offer. There isn’t a weak link amongst the perfectly selected cast and it’s my first introduction to the talents of Amy Huberman, who can exhibit a meltdown like no other!

The plot choices are particularly and in some cases hauntingly current, episode one wreaks of Operation Yewtree as Huberman’s character, Tara Rafferty investigates a TV personality who is being targeted with threats to leak a sex tape which in which they star. I felt Rory Keenan who plays Eric really came into his own in the second episode, where Tara is in a quandary over whether she should forgive (although forgetting is never going to be an option). I felt episode three gave Neil Morrissey an opportunity to shine as his character, Vincent – it was an intense storyline with bigamy, death and a battle for next of kin at the heart of the instalment. Episode four offered a rollercoaster of turmoil which almost had me off the sofa in anticipation at times. Everything around Tara seems to be at risk and paranoia is likely to be warranted, but who’s at the bottom of it? If indeed that is the case and it’s not just down to coincidence.

Although each episode tells its own tale, by episode four, I felt that the style and quality of filming was reminiscent of a gripping movie. So much so that I feel compelled to binge-watch the box-set of series 1 and 2, which is available on DVD on 23 April 2018 (series two by itself is also available from this date to purchase). If you can’t wait for the box-set, series one is available to purchase now! Highly recommended as one of the best television legal dramas I’ve had the pleasure of viewing.